Kelly Akashi's 'Converging Figures' at GAM Milan

Kelly Akashi's first major museum exhibition in Italy, 'Converging Figures,' opened at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM) in Milan as part of the 2024 Furla Series, a project by Fondazione Furla supporting women artists. The show features sculptures that engage in dialogue with the museum's permanent collection and neoclassical architecture. Akashi, born in Los Angeles in 1984 of Japanese descent, works with materials like bronze, crystal, marble, wax, and organic elements such as dried branches and silk cocoons. Themes of time, transience, and reflection permeate the exhibition. Key works include 'Converging Figures,' a table with two offset triangular surfaces holding spheres and bodies of crystal or colored marble; bronze hands supporting a white lace doily placed in the room dedicated to Francesco Hayez; colored glass vases inspired by ancient Roman 'lacrimatoi' (tear catchers); 'Daisy Oracle for weeping,' a green glass sculpture topped with a white borosilicate daisy; wax candles frozen in the act of melting; a crystal flower garland referencing the Sala del Parnaso's architecture; large spiral-stemmed flowers in the ballroom; and 'Mirror Complex,' a cabinet filled with reflective elements. The exhibition runs through the museum's first floor, integrating contemporary works with 19th-century paintings and sculptures.